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Education

2000 PhD in Sociology, Graduate Center, City University of New York2000 MA in Sociology, Graduate Center, City University of New York

1982 MA Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota

1978 BA Child Psychology from the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota

Bio

As an activist and scholar, Gail Garfield has blended her dual professional interest of advocating for social justice with scholarship. This duality is seen in her efforts to reshape social policies and practices in the areas of child welfare, public housing, drug treatment, poverty, violence against women, and race and race relations. She has worked as a senior policy analysis with the Community Services Society and the Manhattan Borough President’s Office of New York City. As the executive director of the Institute on Violence, she administered the program areas of research, policy advocacy, technical support, and outreach and education targeted toward the African American community. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy and a Master Degree in Sociology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, a Master of Arts Degree from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Child Psychology from the Institute of Child Development, both from the University of Minnesota. As an associate professor at John Jay College, she has conducted original research that is reflected in three noteworthy books: Through Our Eyes: African American Women’s Experiences of Violence and Violation (Rugters University Press 2005), Through Our Eyes: African American Men’s Experiences of Race, Gender and Violence (Rugters University Press 2010), and Tightrope: A Racial Journey to the Age of Obama (Rowman & Littlefield 2014).

Scholarly Work

Books

Tightrope: A Racial Journey to the Age of Obama, Rowman & Little, New York, 2014

Through Our Eyes: African American Men’s Experiences of Violence and Violation,Rutgers University Press, Piscataway, New Jersey, 2010

Knowing What We Know: African American Women’s Experiences of Violence and Violation, Rutgers University Press, Piscataway, New Jersey, 2005

Articles and Unpublished Manuscripts

“Hurricane Katrina’s: The Making of Unworthy Victims.” Journal of African American Studies, Volume 10, number 4, May 2007.

“Researching Black Women’s Lives: A Closer Look at Violence Against Women.”
"How Do They/We Work Together?" in Feminism and Multiculturalism, Editor Joyce W. Warren.
Cambridge Scholars Press, September 2006.
“Women’s Safety as a Matter of Social Justice: The Violence Against Women Act.”
Unpublished article be included as part of co-edited book entitled Globalizing State-based Legislation on
Violence Against Women.
Gail Garfield, Baseline Report of Black Women’s Experience of Violence in New York City. The
Institute on Violence,1995.
Gail Garfield, Alternatives to Violence Against Women in the Black Community. The Institute on
Violence, Inc., 1994.
“Zora Neale Hurston: I Shall Wrassle Me Up a Future or Die Trying.” Dialectical
Anthropology, Volume 16, number 2, June 1991.
Congregate Care for Babies: An Alternative Care Arrangement

Research Summary

RESEARCH AND GRANT AWARDS

1999 Project Manager, National Demonstration Project for the Community Involvement Model, in partnership with Harlem Legal Services, The African American Task Force On Violence Against Women, and the Institute on Violence. Funded by the Violence Against Women Grants Office, Office of Justice Programs, Washington, D.C.

1997 Project Manager, Community Planning Process on Violence Against Women, in partnership with Harlem Legal Services, The African American Task Force on Violence Against Women, and the Institute on Violence. Funded by the Violence Against Women Grants Office, Office of Justice Programs, Washington, D.C.

1996 Project Manager, Baseline Study on African American Women’s Experiences of Violence In New York City, under the auspice of the Institute on Violence. Funded by The Commonwealth Fund, and the New York Community Trust.

1995 Project Manager, Organizational Development Planning Grant, under the auspice of the Institute on Violence. Funded by the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, The New York Community Trust, and the Sister Fund formerly known as the Hunt Foundation, New York, NY.